Selection factors

Your application under the regular selection program for skilled workers is assessed based on your socio-occupational characteristics and, where applicable, those of your accompanying spouse or de facto spouse.

Whether you are alone or in a couple, your application will be assessed according to a selection grid and must obtain a pre-determined number of points at the pre-selection and selection stages. If you attain the required number of points, you can obtain a CSQ.

Determination of the principal applicant of a couple

If only one member of the couple works in Québec, the principal applicant must be the one who works. The spouse or de facto spouse who holds a permit to stay as accompanying personor who obtained a work or study permit after arriving in Québec may not submit a CSQ application as principal applicant from Québec. However, this person could be the principal applicant if the application were filed from abroad.

If both members of a couple have come to Québec as temporary workers, the principal applicant should be the one who has the most advantages for entering the Québec labour market judged by training, work experience and knowledge of French and English. You can fill out the Preliminary Evaluation for Immigration (PEI) online form to determine whether you or your spouse should be the principal applicant.

However, if the immigration officer determines, while examining the application, that the choice of principal applicant puts the couple at a disadvantage and that both members of the couple held temporary resident status when the application was filed, the officer may choose the other member of the couple to be the principal applicant.

Intention to refuse

You may receive a letter advising you that your application will be refused unless you supply documents within 60 days making it possible to reconsider this intention. If you provide these documents by the deadline and they are deemed satisfactory, the examination of your application will proceed. Otherwise, after the 60-day period, your application will be refused without further notice. You will then have the right to submit a request for administrative review.

Suspension of the application

The CSQ application is assessed based on training already completed when the application was submitted. If you do not attain number of points required to obtain a CSQ, but it is determined that you would have reached this level by taking into account the diploma that you are in the process of earning, your application will be suspended pending proof of success in your study program.

Call to an interview

If a positive decision can be made without calling you to an interview, you will receive a CSQ by mail. This is the official immigration document issued by the government of Québec.

If it is impossible to make a decision based solely on information in your file, you will be called to a selection interview either in Québec or abroad, depending on the Québec Immigration Office that handles your application. The interview makes it possible to complete the assessment process, if necessary. The convening notice states the date, place and time of the interview as well as which documents to bring.

If your application is accepted following the interview, you will receive a CSQ.

False or misleading declarations or documents

Applicants must give accurate and verifiable information. Information that is unclear, inaccurate, false or misleading could result in rejection of the application at any stage in the selection process.

The Minister may refuse to examine any application for a certificate from a person who, within the past five years, has presented an application containing false or misleading information or documents.

Consequently, if it is established that you made false declarations or provided false documents to support an application for a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ) or a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ), you must wait five years before being able to submit a new application.